Welcome to the latest edition of Food52 founder Amanda Hesser’s weekly newsletter. Hi, I’m Amanda.packed with tips on food, travel and shopping, Food52 activities and other topics that catch your attention. Get inspired: sign up here to receive their emails.
Last week, the New York Times Cooking celebrated the 10th anniversary of its incredibly successful cooking app. Actually, the app’s success was more than 20 years in the making. The Times had wanted to digitize its vast archive of recipes since the early 2000s, but due to a lot of internal back-and-forth (something the Times specializes in), it took more than a decade to make the leap. The long brew has proven to be worth it: They got it right. They understood their readers’ long-standing desire for inspiration, recipes they can trust, and a place to be heard. The app shines not only because of the breadth and quality of its content, but because of the quirky and endearing feedback from its readers.
Photograph by Amanda Hesser
Photograph by Amanda Hesser
It may seem strange to single out one of our competitors, but Food52 owes part of its origin to the Times (where I worked for 11 years), and I’ve always believed in rising tides and all that. I was working at The New York Times Essential Cookbooka compendium of the most notable recipes from the Times’s 170-year archive, when Merrill, my cofounder, and I decided to start Food52. One of our inspirations was the Times’s abundant recipe coverage of the 19th century—it was generated almost exclusively by readers. As part of my research, I also placed an ad in the Times asking readers for their “most tainted recipes.” I received thousands of detailed and colorful responses, many of which are scattered throughout my book.
These two signals — home cooks’ desire to have their recipes celebrated in a respected publication and then to be able to talk about their culinary experiences — helped shape Food52.
NYT Cooking hasn’t decided to publish its readers’ recipes yet; it sticks to the recipes and resists having an aesthetic or a lifestyle point of view, or looking at how recipes fit into a larger whole, with products and other content for the home. That’s what we do! There’s room for both approaches. I’m a loyal follower of NYT Cooking. Maybe you are, too. But you’re here for something more.
Now, before I lose my job, let’s move on to some of those other things you came here for:
Photograph by James Ransom
As part of our monthly pottery series, All Fired Up, we’re featuring Bombabird, whose scalloped serving bowl and soap dish have me in the mood.
Photograph by James Ransom
Photograph by James Ransom
This week we are doing a pre-sale of this season’s advent calendars. We are competitive to maintain our reputation for having the best selection, so check out what we have in store.
Chef Jeremy Salamon of Brooklyn’s inaccessible Agi’s Counter came to show us how he makes his Cold Buttermilk Borscht.
Cesar from our test kitchen roasted a garlic and herb pork tenderloin while it was resting. inside A baguette. They say you shouldn’t call it a sandwich… but it is!
Schoolhouse Photography
Schoolhouse Photography
Our Schoolhouse team recently sat down with interior designer Katrina Hernandez at her Santa Monica store to chat with local designers about product collaborations and interior trends. They left the menu in the good hands of Amy Holt, the photographer, food stylist, and recipe developer behind Peas Thank You, who shared her sunny California morning ritual with us.
Photograph by Amanda Hesser
Photograph by The New Yorker
Before I go, I’ll leave you with a vignette and a recipe to make when you don’t feel like cooking. Step 1: Open the can of fish. Step 2: Open the box of biscuits. Step 3: Cut the lemon into slices.
Have a great week!
Amanda
